I am a "Rose Colored Glasses" type of gal, hence the name of my blog. For me, the glass is always half full. With that said, if I have something super bad to say about a service or product I receive, then seriously, it really, REALLY, reallyreally really.
really... sucks. With that said, I like to take time with a product I'm not completely satisfied with in an effort to identify all of it's positive traits. (Kind of the same expectations I have when it comes to meeting new people, or when people meet me). Fortunately, with this
book by Dana Sibilsky, I was able to find some positive points. Furthermore, the author does such a phenomenal job in communicating on a level in which nearly anyone can comprehend, that I truly feel there is potential for a highly successful book on blogging from this author. Don't get me wrong... this does, but only for those who have never written a blog post in their life and have simply spent time "considering" starting a blog. In that case, this book might be perfect.
I saw another review compare this book to a "pamphlet." At the risk of sounding redundant, I would actually describe it as a "booklet." In other words, part book - part pamphlet. It does give the reader a little more information than the high-level format of most pamphlets, but really not as much as one would expect when picking up a book on this topic. As some other reviews about this book have pointed out, the book has no table of contents, nor does it have page numbers. I am one who likes to reference certain page numbers by writing them on the front cover in the event that I need to go back and refer to a certain page in the future. Unfortunately, that is not possible in this case. On the other hand, that is not an issue that would make or break my decision to buy the book.
The book is, in fact, what is referenced in it's title: "Tips." It does give a variety of fantastic "tips" that all beginning bloggers should be aware of. For example, it begins with the chapter, "Identifying an Area of Expertise for Your Blog," and over the course of the next few pages it give tidbits of information explaining basic reasons why you should identify an area of expertise. I was really hoping for more examples of blogs and their topics, lists of various popular blog categories, and specific examples. There is also information about making decisions regarding your blogging platform, monetizing your blog and using social media. For those interested in a "how to," this is not the book. As these chapters merely explains the basic fundamentals of these concepts and how they relate to the aspiring blogger. They do not give actual guidance, tutorials, or instructions of any nature. Just throwing in some web addresses of the blogging platforms with a spreadsheet comparison of their differing features and perhaps some specific social media tips, would have made this book 100 times more helpful to me personally. On the other hand, when I first started blogging a few years back, I would have loved this as a basic reference. In fact, I'll probably keep it around, as it did have some helpful information. On a final note, as I indicated earlier, it is extremely easy to read and follow, written well, and not too long.
